Does Finally Becoming Famous Mean Being Lonely Too?

Movies & TV

Artist Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” As I watch so many people clamor for fame or infamy—daughters from wealthy families, women who dated or married ballers – literal and figurative— and other regulars who seek celebrity without having done anything to be celebrated really, I realize unequivocally Warhol’s prediction has come to pass. Twitter, You Tube, Facebook, and other media offer everyone with a wireless account the opportunity to shoot their arrow and see how far it goes, as Mother Dorian Corey, co-star of Paris Is Burning” once put it. And a lot of people are taking the shot.

Fame, most imagine, is akin to winning the golden ticket in Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, a world where you can be showered with praise, buy all the things you’ve always wanted and never could afford, be recognized, skip the line, and walk to VIP. Or as Big Sean pit it in “Ass”, I walk in with my crew and I’m breaking they necks/ I’m looking all good I’m making her wet/ They pay me respect they pay me in checks/ And if she look good she pay me in sex.”

But that’s only part of it. There’s a down side that people forget. Most recently (and publicly) the side that kept Kanye West up till 4 A.M. Thursday morning in his London time zone and led him to lonely tweet his dreams, and frustrations with, among other things, being finally famous.

“Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively,” West tweeted, one of 70 over three hours. Later in the rant, as his unveiling has been largely referred to by media outlets, he added, “Good logic tells me smile Kanye… the world likes you again… red or blue pill? … aaaaand Swallow lol”. -Demetria L. Lucas